Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

This post describes how the traditional product development model distorts startup sales, marketing and business development. This post describes how the traditional product development model distorts startup sales, marketing and business development. Freemium models have their own scorekeeping.)

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Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 228

Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

But my favorite was when the public relations manager said, “we’re here to write press releases and answer the phone in case the press calls.” competitive analyses, channel and customer collateral (white papers, data sheets, product reviews), customer surveys, and market requirements documents. It didn’t take more.

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Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS PR 269

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

We spent time out in the marketplace talking with customers, looking at their solutions, comparing ourselves with our competition and then squirreling ourselves away in our offices designing our next set of features. Our sales guys were on the front line and heard what they needed to win deals. Tim started to change our processes.

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Customer Technical Review Software Review Mexico 280

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

This series of posts is a brief explanation of how we’ve evolved from Product Development to Customer Development to the Lean Startup. The Product Development Diagram Emerging early in the twentieth century, this product-centric model described a process that evolved in manufacturing industries.

Silicon Valley 269

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 269

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

For those of you who have been following the discussion, a Lean Startup is Eric Ries ’s description of the intersection of Customer Development , Agile Development and if available, open platforms and open source. And most startup code and features end up on the floor as customers never really wanted them.

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Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 260

Steve Blank

MARCH 19, 2009

Since this was the marketing department, I was going to be planning to spend some advertising and public relations dollars. I wanted to understand how customers bought our products. I knew we were selling through a multi-level indirect sales channel. Market messages to indirect sales channels are just like that.

Silicon Valley 210

Silicon Valley RSS Software Review Technical Review 210

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2009

The only difference between us and the Internet bubble that would follow was that we did branding on the cheap by creating our image with public relations, whilethe dot-bomb era was to do it by spending enormous sums on advertising (those large venture rounds had to get spent somewhere.) Hindsight is wonderful.

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Silicon Valley Product RSS California 122